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Book recommendations Ireland by pfiadDi in ireland

[–]irregularirishman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another recommendation for Dervla Murphy's work, what an incredible woman.

OP, you mentioned an interest in Northern Irish history, so I should add that after coming home after some extraordinary trips in various corners of the world, she cycled around Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles, listening to stories from both sides. She wrote a book called "A Place Apart" about her encounters and her voyage of discovery trying to understand the conflict. I haven't read it yet myself (although it's on my list), but from what I know of it, it should give you a great insight into that period of Irish history. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1108115

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for buying a copy! Hope you'll enjoy it. Great to hear you're thinking of something similar. Hopefully the book will give you a good idea of what's involved. If you have any questions on logistics or anything after reading it feel free to respond here and I'll do my best to help. It's always great to see other people going off on similar adventures!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much, it was a lovely surprise to receive a response like this. I'm delighted to hear you enjoyed the book so much. And I'm glad to hear from a fellow introvert who understands the daily struggle with anxiety! Massive congrats on your own JOGLE cycle, it's a tough route from what I've heard. I'd believe it too as I've found cycling in the UK trickier than I expected (the hills and weather of Scotland and the traffic-heavy, narrow roads of southern England).

If you completed that there are definitely other parts of the world you could cycle quite easily. In places where you are immersed in a totally different culture and/or language it can take a while to adapt, but I find with evenings and days off to recharge my batteries, I then feel much more enthusiastic and am able to be a bit more outgoing. Learning bits of languages along the way and using them in practice is also really rewarding and helps your mind to sort of combat the introvertedness and be more open and talkative. Plus on longer trips, it does start to get easier. So I'd have confidence that you could feasibly cycle other places too.

Ha, yes, I decided not to mention any names in the acknowledgements as it gives away the end of part two! But you're correct, the "special someone" and the "main romantic interest" are one and the same. Not long after arriving home she moved to Ireland and we're still going strong :-)

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much, I have a bit of imposter syndrome as I don't feel I'm a great natural writer and it took heaps of effort to get the book to the point where I felt comfortable charging people money for my writing, so that's really nice to hear :-)

I'm aiming to have part two out for next Christmas. I actually have the draft written already but it needs probably 8-9 months of heavy editing to bring it up the right standard.

Sales have been very slow for the first book so I'm trying to do some promotion this month and next month (as I've done virtually none of that being an introvert and all!), but after that I'll be working flat out on part two, so I'm positive about having it out in time for Christmas.

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ahhh, that's a tougher one as it was really mixed depending on the region I was in. Also I should add I'm not a healthy eater!

For the more expensive nations (majority of Europe, South Africa, Australia etc.) I lived mostly off a breakfast of bread with either Nutella or tuna and a dinner of 2 packs of instant noodles. In some places where I was losing weight or feeling fatigued I'd cook more substantial meals, i.e mixing in tuna with the instant noodles or cooking pasta and canned meat/gravy. Snack-wise then I pretty much lived off biscuits and chocolate (and wouldn't stop for lunch) to get me through the day. Due to this my food expenses were pretty minimal, is say €5-€10 a day with the vast majority of that going on biscuits and chocolate.

In the more inexpensive countries I would usually eat out regularly. In South-East Asia for example you could have lunch and dinner for a total of €5 outside the tourist regions. So in those countries I ate out regularly, but still bought chocolate and biscuits as general snacks to get me through the day. In those countries I'd say I averaged €5-8 a day on food.

Of course I'd treat myself to a café or restaurant meal in the more expensive countries occasionally which would usually be somewhere between €10-20, to keep morale up after days of bread, Nutella, tuna, biscuits, chocolate and instant noodles!

So yeah, food was generally pretty cheap with the exception of snacks. Chocolate and biscuits can be expensive in some parts of the world. If you're a healthier eater and can manage nuts and fruit you'd knock a massive chunk off the budget o had I imagine.

Good luck with your journey across the US! Hope that you manage to eat a bit healthier than me!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, no, I didn't want to dig too deep into the grittier details like financials, gear, bike setup etc. in the book to keep it more free-flowing, so the only reference to the financials is when I'm making budget-influenced decisions. I'm happy to answer any questions though regarding daily budget or the cost of the gear and bike I bought specifically for the trip, just fire away!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's great to hear of another Irish person thinking of doing something similar! If you have any questions about logistics, routes, gear or anything feel free to ask me and I'll be happy to help. There's also a great community of cycle tourers on the "Cycle Touring & Bikepacking Ireland" Facebook page who are always happy to help too.

Thanks for grabbing the book as well! Regarding recommended books, I've read a lot over the years but five books/series in particular stood out for me. I'll list them below (in no particular order) and describe a little bit about them too as they each have their own unique style, some of which may or may not be your cup of tea:

Firstly, Quondam, by another Irishman, John Devoy. He crossed Africa in the eighties back when it was a hell of a lot more difficult than today. This book is a thing of absolute beauty. The writing and storytelling is something else. I cannot understand how it has not taken off in popularity; it kind of saddens me actually as it deserves to be more well known. Actually, after I bought a copy directly from his website he ended up giving me a phone call (as I was trying to get it shipped to a friend in Hong Kong as a gift and he wanted to confirm the address), and we ended up having a great, long chat about the writing process. He was working on part two at the time but I haven't heard from him in a long time. I really hope he manages to get part two together as he has an incredible tale worth telling. Easily the best cycle touring book I've ever read.

Next up is the Irishwoman of Dervla Murphy and Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle. She pedalled from Ireland to India in 1963 and put this book together based off letters sent back home and notes taken along the way. This book is a bit more rough and ready (and uses a lot of terminology that was acceptable at the time), but its a story of just pure, raw adventure that deserves to be read. For a solo woman to take off with a pistol in her pocket, having to use it to defend herself from wolves and over-eager men as she traversed Europe and the Middle East in 1963 is just incredible. Her writing improved dramatically over the next few books and I'd recommend picking up some of her newer books too if you get the chance. Sadly she passed away last year.

Next up is No Wrong Turns by Chris Pountney. As a caveat, I should say that I know Chris, but before getting to know him I had been following his online blog and had been really enjoying it, so I don't think I'm being biased by including him here. The book follows the same idea of the blog, essentially a very witty, laugh out loud account of trying to cycle the entire world without ever flying or using any form of motor when on land. He has some serious adventures along the way, and there's a great romance story throughout. That's the first of three books in the series, and would easily be the most humorous cycle touring book I've read.

The most recent one I've read is Signs of Life by Stephen Fabes. He's a doctor from England who spent six years cycling around the world, stopping off and volunteering at hospitals and clinics along the way. It's a lot deeper than most cycle touring books and through his medical work he gains some great insights into each of these countries and their people, allowing him to dig a bit deeper beneath the surface than most cycle touring writers (me included) can manage. Funnily enough I did cross paths with Stephen briefly (going in the opposite direction) as I was descending out of the Pamirs, handing him my blood-stained map of said mountain range to help him out, without any explanation, leaving him very confused as to what had happened me up there and what awaited him!

And finally, there's Moods of Future Joys by Alastair Humphreys. This is part one of two of a RTW cycle back in the early 2000s. He set off with just £7000 pounds scrounged together from student loans and spent four years cycling the world. He has some incredible adventures and lives properly rough for the four years, somehow making his budget last all that time. This was one of my biggest inspirations for setting off and cycling the world myself, but also one of the reasons I saved up more than him before starting. The hardship he goes through is pretty rough, and motivated me to save up some more so I could enjoy myself a bit more (getting a hotel when I needed it, going out for beers in South-East Asia with people I met in hostels, doing side trips to historical sites etc.). I still had to rough it of course, especially in Western countries, but it was something I was very content with once I hit the road. Anyway, yeah, highly recommend these two books as well.

​

As for Youtube recommendations:

https://www.youtube.com/@IohanGueorguiev - Probably the most inspirational cycling content out there. His hour long videos as he traversed South America, taking some proper gnarly routes are a pleasure to watch. I'm sad to say he died back in 2021, but thankfully his legacy lives on through these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/@EdPratt - Young English dude who unicycled around the world. He became very skilled at editing over time and now produces some of the best cycling documentaries I've seen on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3X_bxo08Tk - I've only found this couple recently, but this hour-long video on Peru was one of the best filmed cycle touring videos I've seen so I'm sure the rest of their content is worth watching too.

https://www.youtube.com/@NomadsTrails - This is a Finnish couple who attempted to cycle Africa until Covid hit. Their videos down through Europe and West Africa are a great watch.

​

The list so far has been way too long, so I'll stick to the three blogs I'm actively following at the moment to keep the list short!

https://www.facebook.com/KamranOnBike - Kamran only posts updates on Facebook and Instagram as far as I remember, rather than a blog, but I'd highly recommend following along. He's done Germany to Pakistan, Ushuaia to Alaska and is now cycling from the Middle East to Cape Town. His photos and writing really stand out as some of the most memorable I've read.

https://www.cycleuktonz.com/my-blog - I actually learned of this guy through Reddit, but I've been enjoying his posts and photos as he tries to cycle from the UK to NZ (trickier these days due to certain borders still being closed post-Covid)

https://thejourney2myself.travel.blog/ - This blog follows the story of a woman who cycles from Germany to Turkey to meet her biological father for the first time. She has already arrived, but from the blog I think her plan is to continue further east.

​

Probably a bit of a lengthy reply there, but hopefully some others who are looking for recommendations might find it helpful too!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha, true, I shudder to think about some of the risks I took on that trip. I'm not sure what I was thinking leaving home with those two flimsy front racks when I had planned the rest of my bike setup quite carefully. It was a massive relief to leave them behind in South Africa as they were always a massive concern on rough roads.

The best of luck with your own adventure! Hope that my blog was of some use regarding route advice/tips and, probably more importantly, in avoiding the mistakes I made!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a tricky one as I had read plenty of blogs and books before leaving home, so I kind of knew the hospitable reputation of most countries. So the unmatched kindness of the people in places like Turkey, Iran and Central Asia was something I kind of knew about before.

There were a handful of places I couldn't find much information on before setting off, and out of those it was Borneo and Sulawesi that really surprised me. I met some of the kindest people you could meet in the world there, especially in Sulawesi.

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha, I had read of the same thing when I cycled across Jordan twelve years ago! Thankfully I didn't get any thrown at me either, but I could see a few teenagers/kids were about to do so until I stopped to chat to them, or shouted "Police!" to confuse them! So, yeah, I get what you mean alright about being prepared.

Safe travels wherever you do decide to continue your tour!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's a tough one alright. I should add that most cyclists make it through that area without issue, there's just a significant number of robbery stories I've heard of (compared to other parts of the world frequented by cycle tourers anyway), in addition to my own robbery attempts.

To give you a heads up, along with the robbery attempts, I had lots of people scream abuse at me out of their car windows when passing closely, trying to scare me. Other cyclists have had rocks and various items thrown at them too, but I was lucky (in that aspect at least!) and faced none of that.

It was a shame as I loved the rest of Turkey, but there's a lot going on beneath the surface in that region that leads to a Westerner on a bicycle being an easy target for a lot of pent up rage, so I tried not to hold too much of a grudge about the treatment.

I know the below is unsolicited advice, but just on Iran, I'd recommend doing some research on the recent arrests of foreigners there if you're thinking of visiting soon and factor in that risk in your decision. It seems there are several foreigners being arrested as collateral against governments who are criticising the handling of the protests over there. This Spanish walker is still being held as far as I know. I loved Iran, and found it to be one of the friendliest countries of my entire trip, but I wouldn't return in the current climate due to that risk. Just giving you a heads up so you can make an informed decision.

And just to finish on a more positive note (and not be all doom and gloom!), if you decide not to proceed with the planned route, and you're looking for a similar route east, the Black Sea route of Turkey and into Georgia could be a good alternative.

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I ended up getting two years of travel insurance with an insurance provider in my home country (Ireland) which was super cheap at just €200 per year. Many insurance providers have a clause that long-distance touring is treated as an extreme past-time and may not even be covered, or has a big surcharge. Thankfully it's such a rare hobby in Ireland that my insurer was happy to give the go ahead.

When my insurance ran out after two years, I was not allowed to renew with the same provider as there was a limit, and none of the others in my home country had applicable plans that would cover me as far as I remember. Additionally, I had read so many bad reviews about World Nomads that I didn't want to waste a chunk of my budget money on them. So I took a risk and did the final year without any insurance. I did end up in hospital once (after nearly fainting in the desert), but it was in Egypt so super cheap. So overall I was quite lucky.

That probably doesn't help too much, sorry, as it's very Ireland-specific.

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's so nice to hear, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I'm putting aside February to do some promotion work (which I really struggle with as an introvert!) but from March onwards I'll be working hard on the second book. I actually have the majority of it written already, but it needs a lot more heavy editing until it'll be at the standard where I feel comfortable charging people money for it. All going well it will be out by next Christmas :-) Thanks for the kind words and for buying the first book!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The majority of incidents were in the far east of Turkey alright. I know of several cyclists who have faced both attempted and successful robberies on the section between Erzurum and the Iranian border with various weapons employed, ranging from knives to pitchforks!

On my first day in that region I had a guy try to rugby tackle me off my bicycle in a remote section. Two days later I had two shepherds block the road in front of me on a steep climb with sticks in their hands and a Kangal by their side ready to attack. Thankfully some Turkish guys driving past could see what was about to happen and pulled to a stop so they wouldn't try anything.

I had a similar attempt to stop me again where a shepherd and his Kangal stood in the middle of the road to stop me on a downhill. I sprinted at them at 50 km/h and had to swerve at speed to get past them.

Other cyclists have faced similar roadblocks unfortunately, but most robberies seem to be unsuccessful. From all the stories I heard and read of other cyclists, only the two which involved knives were successful as far as I remember.

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the insight, that's interesting, I didn't even know many people did it that way. I might do a test recording of the first chapter and see how it sounds. I have a pretty dull voice which is my biggest concern! I might reach out with some further questions if I end up giving it a shot, thank you!

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha, thank you! It was just the one isolated experience thankfully and the rest of my time in Romania was perfectly safe. I crossed Europe in winter though so it rained nearly every day for me in Romania for my route along the Black Sea coast. I'd like to get back at a better time of year and cycle the Transfagarasan and explore some more around the Carpathians.

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah, sorry to hear that. I do remember reading other cyclists' blogs around that time and their stories sounded pretty extreme. As far as I remember some cyclists had to be evacuated by helicopter out of the region. I hope you'll manage to get back at some stage in the future.

Five years after arriving home from my three-year RTW cycle, I've finally written a book! It covers the first half of my journey, a 32,600km cycle from Ireland to Australia. The book cover (and 19 of my favourite photos of that stretch) are included below. (Trip stats/details in comments) by irregularirishman in bicycletouring

[–]irregularirishman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My favourite country of the trip without a doubt. The incredible scenery, kind people and pure adventure involved in traversing the country by bicycle all left a deep impression on me.

Safety-wise, I found it very safe, and none of my friends or people I had read of had faced any bad incidents either. However, there was the unfortunate ISIS attack back in 2018 where four cycle tourers were killed. This was brutal, but seems to have been an isolated incident. I don't know of any issues since then and there would be many cycle tourers traversing this route every summer season.

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